We Chose Death

I watched Beauty and the Beast for the first time as an adult the other night. Gotta say, it was even better than I remember it being. And it had me thinking about a lot of things, primarily about the idea of redemption. After all, that’s the biggest theme revolving around the story, isn’t it?

In a way, our world is like the Beast’s castle. Once upon a time we, and the earth’s inhabitants were perfectly happy, spotless, and free. It’s the world God intended it to be. When wars break out and starvation claims its millionth child and girls get raped, we tend to point our fingers and shake our fists at God and say, “How could you do this?”

And God looks back and says, “I didn’t.”

Our sins from just after the dawn of time, when that crunch of fruit echoed throughout eternity from some garden between two rivers, continues to invite the curse to stretch its fingers and choke us.

We are currently living under a curse and because of it, we are surrounded by terrorists, rapists, murderers, psychopaths, lunatics, liars, gossipers, haters, arsonists, perverts, cheaters, molesters, gluttons …beasts.

And you belong in that group, as do I. We are all beasts. No one, not one of us is who we were intended to be. We were intended to glorify God and bring Him praise and honor, and bear His image on the earth. But our ancestors weren’t content with that – and neither would we have been, may I point out – and they chose to glorify themselves.

And we make the same decision every single day, every hour of every day, almost with every single breath we take. It’s all about Me. With a capitol M.

But the curse isn’t the end of the story. No. You see, a redeemer has been sent to us. A baby, even – born in a little barn in the middle of a little town in the middle of nowhere. A town called Bethlehem.

This baby knew our plight. He grew up amongst our sickness that we were blinded to. We declared we were sane until He declared us sick. We declared we were righteous, until He declared us sinners. And then we declared Him to be insane, sick, and a liar.

But He continued to walk and live amongst us, because He knew that redemption by His hand would draw near. He just needed to find a few people to believe Him, and be willing to accept it when He offered it.

The petals began to fall from the Enchanted Rose when Christ, the grown baby, hung from the cross and breathed His last.

The petals still fall today, and time grows shorter.

But the forgiveness and redemption Jesus offers is still available. He promises that one day this curse that we call “normal,” shall be lifted, because – and ONLY because – of what He has done for us on the cross.

And should you choose to accept His offer of redemption, you’ll find that your beastly ways will start to fall away like the pedals on the rose and the prince or princess God intended for you to be will begin to shine through.

And when the curse has lifted we will reign with Christ as kings and queens of a new Heaven and a new Earth.

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About adoptingjamesMy lovely wife and I are foster parents, dog owners, and home owners. I am a blogger, book editor, and author.
On my blog you'll read about adoption, book recommendations, inspirational thoughts, and a whole lotta Disney/Pixar lovin'!
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13 Responses to We Chose Death

Hi Andrew! Thank you for telling it like it is. Your writing is so insightful and honest. You give the reader something to think about. As a fellow writer, I believe that is the main reason that we write. Awesome post. Take care!

Thank you Mike. And you’re right… sometimes it’s fun to write nonsense, but otherwise, why write if that’s all you’re going to write? We should be challenging each other to think deeper about issues and spread the truth. I hope my blog does just that.

That’s timely. My church is actually going through a series of sermons entitled “Forks in the Road” about everyday choices and the consequences being either success or sin in God’s eyes, no matter what comes along the way.